VIL-INSPECTION OF CEYLON 

 PEARL BANKS. 



Having received permission from His Excellency Sir Arthur 

 Gordon, k.c.m.g., to accompany Captain Donnan, the In- 

 spector of the Oeylon Pearl Banks, on his annual inspection 

 cruise, I left Madras for Colombo by S.S. Rewa on the 

 3rd October 1889, taking with me some young plants of 

 Victoria regia., reared in the nursery of the Madras Agri- 

 Horticultural Society, for planting in the new Fort Gardens 

 at Colombo. Some seeds of the Victoria, which had been 

 sent from Madras earlier in the year, had germinated a 

 short time before my arrival, and the young plants looked 

 thoroughly healthy, so that it is to be hoped that the intro- 

 duction of the water-lily will be successful. 



While in Colombo I took the opportunity of examining 

 the excellently preserved specimen of Rhinodon tt/jyicua in the 

 Ceylon Government Museum for the sake of comparison with 

 the specimen, more than 2U feet in length from the end of 

 the snout to the extremity of the tail, which was cast on shore 

 at Madras in February 1889, when I was unfortunately far 

 away from head-quarters, so that the chance was missed 

 of examining its stomach contents and internal anatomy. 

 As the following extract shows, but few specimens of this 

 monster Elasmobranch have been recorded ' : — 



" For many years the sole evidence of its existence rested 

 upon a stray specimen, 15 feet in length, which was brought 

 ashore in Table Bay during the month of April 1 828, and for- 

 tunately fell into the hands of the late Sir Andrew Smith, then 

 resident in Capetown, who named, described, and figured it. 

 The specimen itself was preserve! by a French taxidermist, who 

 sold it to the Paris Museum, where it still remains in a much 

 deteriorated cjuditiou. Forty years later, in 1868, Dr. Percival 

 Wright, whilst staying at Mahe with Mr. Swinburne Ward, tlien 

 Civil Commissiouer of the Seychelles, met with this shark, and 



' In his " Account of the Pearl Fisheries of Ceylon " Captain Steuart records 

 hiving seen on one occasion ' ' a spotted shark of a most fearful size ; it was 

 accompanied by several common sized sharks, and they appeared like pilot 

 fish by its side." 



